Volunteer Caregivers & Long-Term Staff
Trillium
- Kyra Valentine (Care Coordinator)
- Lauren Mendoza
Halcyon
- Charlie Katcher
- Amanda Gabriel
- John Li
Oakwood
- Su Estrella
Laurel
- Andrew Oda
- Solange Pipon
- Clark Alexander (Head Gardener)
Kenmare
- Elham Toranjiyan
Garden Cottage
- Graham Mullen (Medical Office Coordinator)
Oz
- Roxanna Couick (Bakery Workstation Head)
- Keke Phooko (Volunteer Ambassador)
Dogwood
- Mark Courson
- Maria Klug(from Germany)
Sunflower
- Mia Lamecker (from Germany)
- Erik Ossner
Meadow
- Joy Maymi
- Nick Paskoski
- Debbie Maarman (from South Africa)
- Silvio McIntosh
Windsong
- Sebastian Koch (from Germany)
- Cindy Ormaza and her daughter Amanda (from Ecuador)
Amity
- Amelia Crispell
- Erin Selby
- Kaylan Henley
Oxford
- Renee and Cliff Haden
The Shire
- Monika Kohler (Associate Director for Operations and Finance) and children Noah, and Josie
Bittersweet
- Vanessa (Associate Director for Community Life and Wellness) and Nich Traverse ( Farm Manager)
Echo
- Emily (Social Media) and Tim Wool (Farm Workstation Head)
Walnut Level
- Connie Welsh (Vegetable Garden Workstation Head)
- Finn McGurk (Groundskeeper) and his son, Ian
- Leigh Thomas (Herb Garden Workstation Head)
Staff
RORIE HUTTER
Executive Director
Rorie joined Innisfree in 2015 as the Executive Director. Prior to coming to Innisfree, she worked at the Virginia Institute of Autism in Charlottesville for 15 years in a variety of roles including Director of Education and Director of Training and Consultation.
Rorie grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Virginia. She has a master’s degree in special education from Old Dominion University.
Rorie lives in Charlottesville with her husband Stuart and their children Madeline and Jackson. She is an active member of Sojourners United Church of Christ, where she first got to know many of the Innisfree coworkers.
VANESSA TRAVERSE
Associate Director for Community Life and Wellness
Vanessa came to Innisfree in the summer of 2010 to volunteer. She became the head of our Bakery in 2011 and continues to live in the village in Bittersweet. She became our Community Coordinator in 2015.
Vanessa is married to Nich Traverse, farm manager at Innisfree. She is a Registered Dietitian with experience in Public Health Nutrition, Clinical Dietetics, and Food Science. Vanessa completed her bachelors degree in Nutrition and Food Science and Dietetics at the University of Vermont, and Dietetic Internship at Bastyr University of Natural Medicine in Seattle, WA.
Her passions include whole foods nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and providing a supportive and safe working/living environment for our coworkers.
MONIKA KOHLER
Associate Director for Operations and Finance
Monika came to Innisfree in 2007 with Tom and their three children. She started working in the office in 2010, assisting with donations and finances. Monika stepped into the Financial Officer role in September 2013 and is responsible for all incoming and outgoing accounts.
Monika grew up in Switzerland. She completed her vocational training in business/commerce, then traveled to France, England and Israel. Moving back to Switzerland she studied communication and English languages at the University of Bern. In 1995 she went to Philadelphia for an Internship as a social worker and the rest, as they say, is history.
Monika now has dual citizenship. As a soccer/ballet/gymnastics mom, there is very little free time. But when able, she enjoys riding her horse.
JULIE FREEMAN-MULLINS
Volunteer Recruitment and Communications Coordinator
Before joining Innisfree in 2019, Julie served in non-profit ministry for 18 years with Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center in Newport, Tennessee. For the last 7 years, she served as Food Services Director. During her college days, she enjoyed serving on summer staff with Winshape Camps for Girls in Northwest Georgia, in various roles including Counselor, Skills Instructor, and Arts and Crafts Director. She also served as Food Services Manager for 15 years on her church’s fellowship team. With her culinary arts degree from the Rel Maples Institute for Culinary Arts in 2005 and her bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Marketing from East Tennessee State University in 2008, she has enjoyed using her skills and talents to serve her community.
Julie loved growing up near the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee but now lives in Waynesboro, VA with her husband Josh and their two pets. Her passions and hobbies include cooking and baking, doing anything crafty/artsy, reading crime novels, gardening, dancing, and volunteering in her community.
ERIC SHAFFER-WHITING
IT Administrator
Eric came to Innisfree as a volunteer caregiver in 2008. After his first year, Eric transitioned into a maintenance assistant in the village and a computer specialist at the office. As the years have passed, he lived as a caregiver in Meadow, Amity, Magnolia, Trillium, Magnolia, Walden, Amity, and Laurel. As the “computer guy”, Eric has helped move the office from disparate desktop computers using dial-up modems to what it is today – an interconnected campus with a strong online presence.
A Massachusetts native, Eric moved down to Nelson County, Virginia in 2005 to help his parents build their dream home. With his previous decade of on the job training in the IT industry, he is a passionate and jack-of-all-trades technologist.
TIM SANJULE
Assistant Maintenance Superintendent
Tim came on as the Herb and Flower Garden workstation head in 2018. He was raised in upstate New York, moved to Virginia in 1991 and Albemarle County VA in 1996. He and his wife Wanda live just 5 miles up the road from Innisfree in Blackwells Hollow. Tim has over 30 years experience in organic agriculture and ecological restoration. His current passions include working on the super insulated passive solar and solar panel powered house that he and Wanda live in and growing native plants. He loves to play with his grandchildren and ride his bike to work.
SHARON SNYDER
Community Kitchen Head Cook
Sharon came to Innisfree in 1998 as a volunteer caregiver in Amity House, living there for seven years and managing this newly built house for Innisfree’s senior coworkers. With a background in culinary arts, Sharon also took on the task of planning and cooking Innisfree’s community lunches. In 2008, she began administering medical files for Innisfree coworkers and planning in-service medical trainings for volunteer caregivers and long-term staff.
Originally from Michigan, Sharon has a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Michigan State University. She lived in several states and Europe and completed a 5-year stint with the Brethren Volunteer Service before coming to Innisfree.
After her service at Amity House, Sharon moved to Batesville and then to Sugar Hollow where she lives with husband Lonnie Murray and daughters Ariel and Sarah.
MIRIAM PICUS
Head Weaver
Miriam came to Innisfree in 1984 as a volunteer caregiver and became head Weaver in 1987. Miriam has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. She married Innisfree volunteer caregiver Pete Marshall. After many years of living in Innisfree houses, Miriam, Pete, and their two daughters, Leah and Talia, live in Charlottesville.
GRAHAM MULLEN
Medical Office Coordinator
Graham came in Innisfree in February 2013 as a volunteer from Northwest Alabama. He completed his bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2012 from the University of Alabama in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus in Spirituality and Community Development. Graham still closely follows the Alabama Crimson Tide football team (Roll Tide!). Graham became the head of the Bakery workstation in 2015, the Volunteer Training and Support Coordinator in 2020, and now in a new role for 2023 as Medical Office Coordinator.
Graham currently lives in Garden Cottage with his dog Bruno. In his spare time, Graham enjoys playing and listening to music, watching movies, and giving friends a hard time
NICH TRAVERSE
Farm Manager
Nich spent his childhood in Vermont, occasionally working (though more often just playing) on his grandparents’ dairy farm. He studied Environmental Education at the University of Vermont, and would go back to work the family farm during the summer. After graduation, he took a position teaching at-risk youth farming skills at Healthy City Youth Farm in Burlington, Vermont. He then spent a year working alongside his father at Spring Lake Ranch, a community for people with mental health or substance abuse issues. After a brief stint as an organic berry farmer in Seattle, WA, he moved back to Vermont to be the Farm Caretaker at Merck Forest and Farmland Center, a non-profit organization focused on sustainable farming and forestry practices.
Nich moved to Innisfree with his wife Vanessa in 2010, “just for a year”, to volunteer and work on the farm with his parents Peter and Deb Traverse. That somehow stretched into years as they worked to upgrade infrastructure and build soil fertility across the farm. By 2016, he had taken over the management of the farm and still has no idea where all the time has gone.
Nich is committed to raising young farmers in addition to cattle and sheep, which takes the form of internships and occasional partnerships with schools to help expose kids to the world of farming.
CONNIE WELSH
Vegetable Garden Workstation Head
Connie arrived to Innisfree in 2003 as a Sunflower house volunteer and learned how to live with a German, the alphabet in sign language, and the real importance of zinnias. Her lackluster singing voice was keeping the music group back so she went on to assist the garden full time as an intern and eventually an assistant to Trisha and Cabell. After a few years her chicken wings sprouted and hatched the egg operation under the tail feathers of the garden. After a short hiatus in Denver, she has been assisting Kyle to translate veggie garden work into comprehensive therapeutic tasks for our villagers.
When cleaned up Connie enjoys a board game with Friends, spinning Innisfree wool, and making balloon animals.
LUIS BARRERA
Woodshop Workstation Head
Luis was born in Colombia and came to the USA in the early 80s and he lived in South Florida for 31 years. Just before coming to Innisfree in 2016 he volunteered in a Buddhist center in Berkeley for four years.
He studied photography in Paddington Tech in London while working as a chef. Once he arrived in Florida he remained in the restaurant industry for ten years and then moved into the printing industry until his time in Berkeley. His experience with mental illness came through taking care of his father who suffered extensive brain damage in a car accident while Luis was in middle school.
After two years as a volunteer in two different houses, he was offered to be the Wood Shop manager when the previous head of the station left.
TIM WOOL
Farm Workstation Head
Tim came to Innisfree from upstate New York in 2012. He lived at Meadow for 4 years, transitioning from full-time caregiver to farm intern and now to his role as the farm workstation head. Tim lives in Echo Cottage with his wife Emily. He cares for Innisfree’s 400+ chickens and a herd of sheep where the daily responsibilities range from collecting and washing eggs, shearing sheep, and maintaining a joyful and collaborative work environment for volunteers and residents who work at the farm.
Tim is an avid soccer player and enjoys outdoor sports of all kinds from tennis to skiing and canoeing.
FINNIAN MCGURK
Groundskeeper
Before coming to Innisfree, Finn was a bread baker for 12 years, 5 of which were at Breadworks in Charlottesville. While raising his son Ian, he also manages the Innisfree grounds and landscaping. He has also served as our farm assistant. He and Ian enjoy living at Sunflower house. Hobbies that Finn enjoys are playing board games, pickleball, and soccer.
CAROL EVANS
Activities Coordinator
Carol came to Innisfree in 2005 as a volunteer caregiver and lived in Meadow house for 3 years. Previously she worked as an elementary school P.E. teacher in Washington D.C. and before then as bicycle messenger and bicycle tour guide. Somehow this makes her Masters In Education from Boston College and undergraduate degree from University of Pittsburgh all the more relevant. Enjoying variety, Carol has held many positions in Innisfree: caregiver, hospice helper, fitness trainer, water aerobics instructor, house manager and now Activities Coordinator. MayFair and the Innisfree Musicfest are her favorite days.
At home, Carol enjoys putzing in her own garden as well as bicycling, hiking, and camping with her husband Tom and their 2 dogs.
ROXANNA COUICK
Bakery Workstation Head
Roxanna first came to Innisfree in early 2019 to visit her dear friend, Julie Mullins and fell in love with Innisfree instantly. After visiting again in the summer that same year, she knew she had a strong connection with the community. When offered the position to be the new head baker, she jumped on the opportunity and joined the community in March 2020.
Roxanna has previously worked with Intuit Quickbooks Online in tech support and account management as well as serving 5 years at Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center in Newport, Tennessee, working in food services. On the side, Roxanna enjoys baking and decorating cakes for friends and family. Baking and cooking have always been her way of showing love and spreading happiness.
Born in East Tennessee and raised in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains, Roxanna enjoys hiking, reading, cooking, baking, painting, playing video games, crafting, traveling, listening to music, singing, and dancing like nobody’s watching. She calls herself a “hobby hoarder” as she is always looking for new things to learn and create. What will she do next?!
PAULA FALLON
Day Coworker Coordinator
Paula Norton Fallon is a long time friend of Innisfree. In 2021, she finally joined the staff as the coordinator for the Day Coworker Program. Paula is a veteran special education teacher, consultant and employment specialist. She received her Masters degree in Education from The University of Virginia, and taught Special Education in the Albemarle County Schools for 33 years. Paula taught in the Albemarle County Post High Transition Program (for young adults) for 16 years and there are current day and residential coworkers at Innisfree who are alumni of her program.
Board of Directors
Innisfree Incorporated, formed in 1971, is a nonprofit corporation governed by a Board of Directors. While the business of the corporation and its finances are dealt with exclusively by the Board of the Corporation, the desires and opinions of the Innisfree community are solicited, expressed, and represented by participation on the Board and Board Committees. Flexibility in the manner of control and direction by the Board is the norm. Open communication is maintained among all individuals responsible for the administration of Innisfree and its everyday life.
Officers 2024
- Henry Griffin, Chairman
- Krissy Lasagna, Vice Chair
- Barbara Fried, Chairman Emeritus
- Keith Lewis, Treasurer
- Tim Wool, Secretary
- Rorie Hutter, Executive Director
Board Members
- Kevin Battle
- Mike Darby
- Miriam Halpern
- Geri Schirmer
- William Walker
- Neal Walters
- Alison Webb
Emeritus
- Carolyn Ohle
- Phyllis Sato
- Lee Walters
2024 Board Meetings:
- Sunday, March 17
- Saturday, June 22
- Saturday, September 21
- Saturday, December 7